Essayist and novelist Wilfrid Sheed dies in Mass.

[January 20, 2011]  BOSTON (AP) -- The stepdaughter of novelist and essayist Wilfrid Sheed says the English-born American writer has died. He was 80 years old.

Stepdaughter Phoebe Alexis Ungerer says Sheed died Wednesday in Great Barrington, Mass., and had long suffered from polio and more recently cancer of the mouth.

Born in London in 1930 to prominent Catholic publishers, Sheed was the author of a number of books, including "A Middle Class Education" and "The House That George Built: With a Little Help From Irving, Cole and a Crew of About Fifty."

He is survived by his second wife, Miriam Ungerer Sheed, who lived with him for many years in eastern Long Island, New York. He is also survived by a sister, three children from his first marriage, two stepdaughters and four grandchildren.

[Associated Press; By RUSSELL CONTRERAS]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.